The King (or Queen) Makers
John Baldacci
Governor of Maine
HOW HE’LL VOTE Has endorsed Clinton, but says he may switch to preserve party unityTIES Received $500 campaign contribution from Clinton in 2006

Rita Moran
Owner, Apple Valley Bookstore in Winthrop; Democratic National Committee member
HOW SHE’LL VOTE Will use her vote to make sure Maine’s superdelegation reflects the state’s overall vote, which sends 15 delegates for Obama and 9 for Clinton

Sam Spencer
President, Spencer Monks Development; Democratic National Committee member
HOW HE’LL VOTE UncommittedTIES On the White House staff for four years during Clinton presidency; current business partner is Bobby Monks, chairman of Obama’s campaign in Maine

Tom Allen
District 1 Congressman; running for Susan Collins’s Senate seat
HOW HE’LL VOTE Has said he wants the voters to decideTIES Was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford with Bill Clinton; received a $10,000 campaign contribution from Obama in fall 2007

Mike Michaud
District 2 Congressman
HOW HE’LL VOTE Originally endorsed Edwards; has said he wants to let the people decide before committingTIES Received $5000 campaign contributions from Clinton in 2002 and 2004

This is when things get ugly.

As the race for the Democratic presidential nomination heads quickly into the gutter, it’s become clear that it’s a fight neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama can win, at least not at the polls.

Despite Clinton’s claims of a comeback and her crazy talk about a shared ticket with her name on top, she’s behind Obama in every measure but one. As of March 11, Obama leads, narrowly, in the popular vote — 49.4 percent to Clinton’s 47.1 percent, according to independent political site RealClearPolitics.com. He has won 29 primaries and caucuses to her 14. And, in terms of pledged delegates, which are awarded based on the results of primaries and caucuses, Obama is ahead, with 1368 to Clinton’s 1226, as of March 11, according to the Associated Press. (Polls had not closed in the Mississippi primary at press time, but Obama was expected to win big there.)

Clinton would have to win every remaining race by huge margins to get the 2025 delegates needed for the nomination. That’s not going to happen, even if Michigan and Florida manage to have their delegates' votes counted.

But it’s doubtful Obama can get to 2025 either, particularly in light of Clinton’s recent nosedive into scare tactics and negative campaigning which, God bless America, seems to be working.

The race for the nomination, a contest that has mobilized unprecedented numbers of grass-roots Democrats and drawn countless new ones into the fold, will be decided by party elites. It’s up to the superdelegates now.

KICKING THE BOTTLE | November 26, 2008 As several Maine towns battle the plans of Poland Spring to expand water-pumping operations across the state, a group of water-rights activists will bring the issue to Portland this Saturday.